Because Of This
by DragonRider13025
Summary: Craig stumbles into Clyde's window one stormy night and something just doesn't seem right about his friend. Can Clyde find out what's troubling him? Cryde, slash.


**Okay, okay...it's been a while, I know. But seriously. I'm in the middle of working on a multi-chaptered IkexMarth story. I just don't want to post it till I'm completely done with it. :D Yay me! **

**More on the anyways...I got into Craig/Clyde and then there's like, NO fanfiction between them, which is like, ridiculous! They're the best pairing ever! OO Okay, enough ranting, lemme start.**

**Title: Because Of This**

**Pairing: Cryde, Craig/Clyde**

**Rating: T (some language though...)  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own South Park. I wish I didn't either, xD cause I wouldn't have been able to think of such an awesome TV show. :P Rock on Trey and Matt!**

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Rain pounded against the glass panes of Clyde Donovan's window. Said teenager was sprawled across his bed sheets surrounded by papers and books. He was working on his math homework that he just didn't seem to understand. He chewed on the end of his no. 2 pencil and ran his hands through his auburn hair.

_Damn you, stupid…school work,_ Clyde thought, frustrated. It was only September and he was already starting to fall behind in most of his classes. He furrowed his eyebrows. _It shouldn't be this hard,_ he silently ranted,_ I'm in all core classes for Christ's sake…_

He rolled over onto his back and pressed his palms against his sore eyes. He ignored the crumple of paper under his body and let out a stressed sigh. Since when did it start being hard to be a kid? Oh…wait, he's a _young adult_, now, or so his peers said. _Being a teenager sucks ass!_ He whined, staring at the ceiling. Hormones, drama, relationships, school, and parental issues. I guess God just decided to bundle up all of life's worst attributes and then slap it across the face of the world's youths.

Ever since high school started, everything was hell for Clyde. Yeah, he was already a junior, but still. He had been involved with two relationships so far. His first girlfriend was Red, she broke it off not long after freshman year had started. Next was Bebe Stevens, who HADN'T dated her? They were only 'official' for about a week. Big surprise there. Craig told him that dating both those girls were mistakes from the beginning.

Oh yeah, Craig was Clyde's best friend and leader of their little posse. Craig was maybe the tallest kid in their grade and he known for flipping off people who pissed him off. He even does it to Clyde every once in a while, but he doesn't mind it, at least not that much. The black haired boy was a great leader in Clyde's opinion. The shorter teen looked up to him ever since he could remember, (figuratively AND literally of course).

Clyde tapped his chin with the pencil he was still holding and thought about random stuff for a few minutes. _I wonder what's for dinner…_He mused, glancing at the clock on his nightstand, which read 6:47. His green eyes flitted to the window and he noticed that it had gotten quite dark out.

Oh wait…what else sucked about being a teenager? His eyes returned to the ceiling. Oh yeah, hormones. God, they're a bitch and a half aren't they? He grumbled as he remembered those uncomfortable thoughts he's been having unintentionally about his friend. Yeah, all that gay stuff involving himself and Craig. Jesus, it was normal…at least he thought it was. He thought he read somewhere that homosexual thoughts was a normal phase that every teenage boy went through.

Oh so he thought, he liked keeping those thoughts in the back of his mind. The low rumble of thunder echoed outside, but a loud thump came from directly outside of Clyde's window.

Clyde jumped out of his skin when he heard a load rapping against his window. He shot up from his bed and whipped his head around so fast his neck hurt. Outside in the downpour of water, there a dark silhouette poised on the roof. The brown haired boy shook slightly and backed away from the glass.

The figure moved closer to the window and Clyde instantly recognized that blue winter hat. An angry scowl was etched upon the visitor's face as he raised his middle finger to Clyde from outside. The smaller boy wasted no time hurrying towards the window and unlocking it.

Before Clyde could even lift the window, Craig pushed the glass up from the outside and tumbled onto the plush carpet. He had landed ungracefully in a wet heap at Clyde's feet and had water dripping from his clothes. Great gusts of wind billowed through the opening and rain droplets were filtering into the warmth. Papers from Clyde's homework fluttered around in the room but the younger teen ignored them.

"Craig? Oh my God!" Clyde rushed over to the fallen teenager and grabbed his arm. "Hey are you okay?" He asked helping the water soaked Craig up to his feet. The teen steadied himself upon his long legs and didn't respond, his dark bangs that poked out from under his hat were hanging over his eyes and had water dripping from them.

Craig shoved Clyde off his arm and stood up. The brown haired boy backed off and looked at his taller friend with a confused expression.

"What took you so long to open the damn window?" Craig said, smirking as he straightened up. Clyde knew something was up when he looked into Craig's gray eyes. They seemed…so un-Craig like, almost… as if they were sad.

"Uh, it's a little late don't you think?" Clyde asked in light humor as he shut the window closed, making the flying papers lifeless once more.

"Since when has it ever been _too_ late for me to visit a friend?" Craig said almost cockily. Ah, that's more like the Craig Clyde knew. Clyde's mood lifted a bit and he sat back on his bed.

The tall black haired teen looked around his friend's room with little interest, his smirk slowly started fading. Clyde studied Craig, his expression looked almost heartbreaking. Finally Craig's gaze lowered to stare at his ratty old converse, which was seeping water into the carpet.

"Oh! Dude, I forgot!" Clyde said suddenly, slapping himself on the forehead. "You're probably freezing! Let me get a towel." He dashed out of his room to get a dry towel out of the linen closet in the hallway.

Before Craig even bothered to lift his head, the soft footsteps of his friend nearing alerted him that Clyde had returned. Without bothering to ask, Clyde grabbed the yellow poofball on top of Craig's hat and yanked the winter garment off.

"Hey!-"

"You should really stop wearing that thing so much. I like looking at your hair better then that old thing." Clyde said dropping the waterlogged hat to the floor, which made a loud plop sound.

Craig stuck out his lip and glared at the smaller teen. His expression was ignored as Clyde threw the warm, fluffy towel on to Craig's head, covering his face. Standing on his tippy toes, Clyde leaned up and started drying Craig's hair by rubbing the cloth gently. Without any warning, Clyde's forearm was grabbed roughly and he was being pushed away by Craig.

"I can do it myself, you're not my mom." Craig said rudely, yanking the towel off of his head, so he could glare at his friend.

Clyde raised his hands in front of himself in mock surrender. "Yo, I'm just trying to help. Calm down."

Craig rolled his eyes and leaned over to pick up his hat from the carpet. He waved it in front of himself a couple times before jamming it back onto his head, hiding his hair once more. He then lifted the now damp towel and hastily rubbed his head (with the hat on, mind you) with more then enough force. Clyde vaguely wondered if it hurt to rub your head that hard.

"So, what's up? Any reason you decided to visit me at seven o clock at night?" Clyde asked, half jokingly, and half curious.

Craig slowly stopped mopping his head and let the towel slip to his shoulders. He was staring at the floor. The taller boy seemed lost in thought.

"Craig?"

"Oh um," Craig looked up at Clyde for a second and then diverted his eyes to the door. "Can I like, sleep over tonight or something?"

"Um, I'm pretty sure you can, even though we have school tomorrow. I'll have to ask my mom,"

Craig just nodded his head, his eyes still fixed on the door. _Ok, this is freaky, why is Craig acting so weird? _Clyde thought, leaning on his desk. He was tugged from his thoughts when Craig spoke again.

"Actually…can I stay, for like, a week or two?" He asked unsurely, eyeing his friend.

Clyde pushed himself off of the desk he was leaning on and looked at Craig like he had two heads. "Okay…dude, you're freaking me out now. What's going on?" He asked firmly.

Craig rolled his shoulders and his fingers played with the fringe of his towel. "Nothing." He said simply.

_Nothing? How can he just say 'nothing'? _Clyde thought appalled. He balled his fists and took a step towards his best friend. "What? Dude, I'm not that stupid. I know something's up, and I'm really offended that you can't trust me enough to tell me!"

Craig sighed and rubbed his forehead as if he was dealing with an annoying little brat. "It's something you wouldn't understand." He said harshly. The tone he used took Clyde off guard, but the shorter teen refused to give up.

"What? You're not making any sense! Don't you trust me after all we've been though together?"

Craig's voice softened and he scoffed, "I do, in fact, you're the only one I _do_ trust in this world. It's just that…I don't want to get you _involved _with my stupid problems."

"Shut up, that's a stupid excuse!" Clyde stated, Craig lifted his head and looked at his friend surprised. "Just tell me why the hell you're being weird! I want to help you." He said slowly to emphasize his point.

A slow sigh of defeat escaped the black haired teen's cold lips. He pulled the towel off his shoulders and held the cloth in his hands. His thumb traced small circles on the fabric as he compelled a way to tell his friend what was wrong. "I-" He stopped to scratch the back of his head in a frustrated manner, "I was kicked out of my house by my parents."

_What…?_ The sentence echoed in Clyde's mind. Clyde cocked his head to the side and eyed Craig. "Are you positive…?" He asked unsurely.

Craig tilted his head up to the ceiling and looked like he was going to start laughing. "See?! This is why I didn't want to tell you. You don't even take me seriously! Of course I'm positive! My fucking dad literally threw me out onto the doorstep in a fucking thunder storm!" Craig exclaimed, towering over the brunet.

"I'm sorry Craig! But, what did you do? Why?" Clyde asked looking at his hands.

Craig froze and his shoulders slumped back, he looked off at the door again. "It's not important."

"Stop giving me that shit! Just tell me and stop trying to get me to run around in circles!" Clyde pleaded. He was really getting fed up with this whole issue. Craig's mouth opened and closed before the tall teen put his hands on his hips and looked at his shoes like he was thinking.

Clyde crossed his arms and shook his head. "Dude! Just tell me!" No response. "If you plan on staying here, I better have a good enough reason to tell my parents."

Right when Clyde said that, Craig's head shot up so fast that water droplets flew off his head. His eyes were wide and he quickly shook his head from side to side.

"No, no, no. You're parent's can't know why!" Craig said pulling on the earflaps of his hat. "Don't tell anyone I got booted from my house, got it?" He demanded, jabbing a finger at Clyde's chest.

Clyde swiped away his hand and rubbed the spot that Craig poked, "Alright, alright. They don't have to know, but I still do." He said, not faltering. At his words, Craig placed his hands on his head and looked up at the ceiling again.

"Well, you have to promise me something."

"Hmm? Promise what?" Clyde asked intrigued.

Craig looked at his friend in the corner of his eye. "You have to promise that you won't hate me."

"What? Dude, of course-" A sharp knocking on Clyde's door interrupted his sentence.

**"Clyde, honey. It's time for dinner!" **The doorknob twisted and Mrs. Donovan stepped through the doorframe. "Make sure you-oh! Craig? I didn't know you were here." The women said pleasantly, folding her hands together.

Before Craig could react, Clyde stepped in front of the other teen and confronted his mother. "Yeah, well he can with me from school. We had a project to work on and I think he's gonna have to spend the night so we can finish it." He lied quickly with an innocent face.

"That's fine dear," she said smiling. "Now come down stairs, Dinner's getting cold."

"Alright mom."

And with that, she closed the door and retreated back down the hallway. Once her footsteps were out of earshot, Clyde rounded back onto the black haired teen.

"Okay, I won't hate you, so tell me now." Clyde said anxiously.

"Naw, your mom wants us downstairs." He said heading for the door.

"No! Cut it out! Just tell me." The brunet said, grabbing Craig's arm.

The taller boy's hand was resting on the doorknob, and he still didn't say a word. He hung his head slightly and said, "Come on, dinner's waiting." He shrugged off the shorter boy's hand and pushed open the door.

Clyde lingered alone for a moment in his room before reluctantly following. _Was Craig trying to avoid me?_ He thought unsurely as he stared at the other's back as they descended the stairs.

Both the teens crossed through the living room and arrived into the warm kitchen where dinner was waiting on the table. An extra chair was pulled up to the table right next to Clyde's.

Mr. Donovan peered over his newspaper and spotted the two boys. "Oh, hello Craig, haven't seen you in a while." He said cheerily.

Craig just mumbled a half-assed reply and sat down next to Clyde, who had just taken a seat. Mr. Donovan seemed slightly put-off at his son's friend's rude behavior but he shrugged it off when his wife placed drinks on the table.

"Oh dear, Craig! You're soaked to the bone!" She said worried as she placed a hand on his sodden shoulder. "Do you want to change into some of Clyde's clothes?"

"Mom!" Clyde blushed at his mother's suggestion. It's not as if Clyde didn't _want_ to share his clothes, it's just that they were all too small for his much too tall friend, and both of the teens already knew that.

Craig declined the offer and continued to pick at his cheeseburger. Mrs. Donovan sighed and took a seat next to her husband.

Dinner seemed long and awkward. Whenever Clyde's parents asked Craig a question or tried to start conversation, he would mumble something inaudible. Clyde nudged him in the ribs the first couple times he did this, but quickly gave up when the older teen didn't respond. To top that, every few seconds, that weird statement that Craig told him would float into his mind and trouble him.

_You have to promise that you won't hate me. What the fuck is all that about? _Clyde wondered as he took a bite of his sandwich. _Hate him? What could possibly make me hate him? He knows I'm his best friend, right? Ever since he came here, he's been acting strange. _Clyde snuck a glance to his left at Craig. He hadn't eaten anything yet, he didn't even bother to push the food around on his plate so it looked like he had. Clyde wrinkled his nose and turned back to his own food. He took his fork and stabbed a carrot to vent some frustration. _Fuck this teen drama…_

After what seemed to be forever, Clyde finally decided it was enough. He stood up from the table and said that he was done eating.

"Alright hun, just take your plate and put it in the sink." His mom said waving her hand distractedly.

"Kay." Clyde pushed his chair in and grabbed his plate. Craig quickly followed Clyde's actions and stood up from the table. He took his plate of untouched food and emptied the food in the garbage before placing it next to Clyde's in the sink.

"Now, go wash up before you go to bed, sweety." Mrs. Donovan said. "And get Craig some dry clothes."

"Okay mom."

Clyde walked out of the kitchen and jogged up the stairs, Craig right on his heels. He stopped at the linen closet in the hallway to get Craig another towel. After he threw the cloth at Craig, he went into the bathroom real quick to brush his teeth. The whole time Craig looked at the towel in his hands silently.

"Alright, now we need to talk." Clyde said opening his bedroom door for Craig. The taller teen walked in, followed by Clyde who closed the door behind him.

The brunet crossed his arms and stared at Craig. "Want to tell me something now?" he asked politely.

Craig just shrugged and looked around the room as if he was unaware of where he was. Clyde huffed in an annoyed manner. Screw manners. The shorter teen brushed past Craig, purposely bumping into the other's shoulder so he got his attention. Clyde sat down on his bed and patted the spot next to him, indicated to Craig that he wanted him to sit there.

Dropping the unused towel on the floor, Craig dragged his feet across the floor and plopped down next to his friend. The bed dipped with the new weight and water seeped out of Craig's pants and into the comforter.

"Craig…?" Clyde leaned forward to get a glimpse of the other teen's face. His once vibrant gray eyes seemed dull and glazed over. It was like he had lost hope in living or something. Clyde didn't really know, he just read somewhere that the eyes were a window to the soul or some crap. He hesitantly placed a hand on the other's arm. "You okay?"

Craig quickly turned his head away from Clyde and wiped his eyes hastily with the back of his hand.

"Are, you crying dude…?" Clyde asked softly, tightening his fingers on Craig's arm. The poor teen suddenly found himself once again shoved violently away by Craig.

"No you fucking queer!" Craig was now, glaring fiercely at his friend. He sniffed, he still sounded congested even though it's been years since 4th grade. "Why would I fucking cry, I've got a stupid cold you asshole!"

"Oh, okay sorry. I was just concerned." Clyde said quietly, recovering from Craig's nasty outburst. He stared down at his knees and shuffled his hands on his lap.

Gray eyes softened and Craig immediately regretted yelling at his best friend. He faced forward and dipped his head. "Sorry…I'm just a little stressed."

A few minutes of silence passed between the two teens. The only sound that could be heard was the low rolling of thunder and pitter patter of rain hitting the house. Clyde sighed. _Things shouldn't be so awkward between best friends. _"Okay." Clyde took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "What happened to you? Why did your parents kick you out of the house?"

"Well…" Craig cracked his neck and Clyde waited patiently. The older teen turned towards Clyde, but he still wasn't making eye contact.

"Yes?" Clyde persisted, leaning forward a bit.

"I got thrown out onto the streets because…" he stopped to sigh, he mumbled something under his breath that Clyde couldn't understand. But then he snapped his head up and stared directly into Clyde's jade green eyes. "It's because of this." Craig raised his hand to caress Clyde's face. His thumb traced the brunet's cheek delicately as he slowly leaned in towards the smaller boy to press their lips together.

Clyde smelled rain.

Wait…what? Clyde's brain seemed to halt. His eyes were wide and he was beyond total shock. He remained frozen for what seemed to be an eternity. The only thing that went through his mind was the fact that Craig's lips were pressed firmly against his own. Their forehead's were pressed together and Clyde could feel the dampness of his friend's hat mingling with his hair. The kiss lasted about five seconds, but the whole time, Clyde was frozen stiff.

Insecurity flooded through Craig's stomach. Awkwardly, he detached himself from Clyde. He bit his bottom lip and leaned back as his eyes darted to anywhere but the boy in front of him.

Clyde screamed at his body to move but he couldn't blink and his mouth hung open slightly. Forcing himself, he shakily lifted his fingers to touch his lips. He then looked at his hand and then stared up at Craig who was blushing a little. He was tapping his foot distractedly and was rubbing his hands together nervously between his knees.

Finally, Clyde managed to choke words out, "You-you're ga-"

"NO, dumbass!" Craig snapped embarrassed, he quickly faced forward again. "I'm just in love with you…" He mumbled, the blush darkening as the words came out of his mouth.

"You're in love with me…?" Clyde asked, not believing his ears.

Craig chuckled under his breath. "Yes," He said nodding his head. "I'm in love with Clyde fucking Donovan. My best friend for ten years. Got a problem with it?" He asked gruffly as if he wanted to start a fight.

Craig froze when he felt his hat being tugged off his head. He slowly turned towards Clyde and saw that the boy was clutching the blue and yellow garment on his lap. He wasn't even looking at Craig's face. His green eyes were concentrated on his hair, which he was leisurely running his fingers through. Clyde enjoyed the cool wetness of the other teen's dark hair on his fingers. He smiled sadly to himself and then let his hand trail down to Craig's shoulder.

He then stared Craig right in the eyes. The other teen was gnawing on his bottom lip nervously. Honestly, this is the most distressed Clyde had seen Craig become. Did he just blow up their friendship into a thousand little pieces because he stepped over the line, or would things just carry on the same like nothing ever happened? Slowly, Clyde gathered the taller teen in his arms and buried his face in Craig's shoulder.

Craig wrapped his long arms around Clyde quickly and hugged him as tightly as he could without hurting the smaller teen. He pressed his face against Clyde's and let out a sob of relief, and he started laughing while trying to hold back tears.

Clyde felt the other tremble in his arms. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of his friend. It was a pleasant musty smell that reminded him of when he stood out in the summer rain.

Ah, screw hormones, Clyde was in love.

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**You can review if you want! :3 I would really like it. Please excuse any typos, I'm extremely lazy and don't do a good job proofreading. ; This was my first time writing Craig and Clyde. So...shoot me in the forehead if they're OOC. Thank you.  
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